Cherry pie contest spans decades (timeline graphic added)

Georgia Doty Hultquist won state pie contest in Loveland in 1947

By Jessica Benes Reporter-Herald Staff Writer

Posted:
07/17/2013 09:16:40 AM MDT

Georgia Doty Hultquist's cherry pie recipe was a family recipe and she certainly did not think she would win when she entered the Colorado state competition in 1947 in Loveland. She just wanted to do the best she could.

Special guest Hultquist of Fort Morgan will visit the Cherry Pie Festival event on Saturday as a judge in the Art of the Tart contest. Hultquist won the state cherry pie contest in Loveland in 1947, which catapulted her to near-stardom at the Chicago Nationals.

The Loveland Cherry Pie Festival will start with a historical presentation on the history of cherries in Loveland at 3:30 p.m., and end with pie and ice cream from 5 to 8 p.m.Two hundred pies have been donated by Johnson's Corner for the event.

Susan Ison, cultural services director with the city of Loveland, read an article in the Denver Post last August about Hultquist, whose few possessions after a fire in her home included a scrapbook remembering her glory days as a prize-winning cherry pie baker.

The article quotes her as saying, "They (Loveland) still have a contest? I'll go up there the next time they have it but I wouldn't enter it." Ison took her up on that promise and called Hultquist to invite her to the 2013 Cherry Pie festival.

"She is clearly very busy," Ison said. "Her voice mail says, 'I'm in and out, call me back.' She said she would love to come and serve as a judge."

Ison said that Hultquist was more than eager.

"I was very honored to do it," Hultquist said. "It's been many years since I won."

Hultquist said that the competition was sponsored by Kroh Charity Producers, which owned cherry trees in Loveland.

"The town wasn't all that big. It was a little farming town, not much different from Fort Morgan," she said.

The pies were sold and auctioned off that day. The highest pie in the auction went for $5.

Hultquist went on to the state competition Feb. 20.

She won $100, a Joy of Cooking cookbook and a vase. "I didn't even know what $100 looked like," she said. She was a farm girl and hadn't ever been out of the state before.

Her recipe is a family recipe that she didn't think was anything special. "I just made a pie," she said.

Hultquist carried her lard in her suitcase to Chicago because she knew she wouldn't find find homemade lard there. Hultquist doesn't make as many pies anymore but the ones she does make are baked with Crisco because it's impossible to find homemade lard anymore.

The pie bakers baked their pies in front of the judges.

Hultquist lost the national cherry pie competition by 20 points. She had 1,333 points and the winner came in at 1,353.

The Cherry Pie festival will be 5-8 p.m., with community booths and family-friendly activities like face painting, mini golf and pettable animals.

A music stage will be set in the middle of the parking lot across from the museum. The music lineup will include Barrelhouse from 5 to 6:15 p.m. and Shawn Waggoner and the Tumblyweeds from 6:45 to 8 p.m.

The Art of the Tart Cherry Pie Contest entrants must drop pie off by 4:30 p.m. Categories in the contest are adult and students under age 18. All entries must be pies and no other form of cherry treat. They cannot be commercial. Winners will be announced at 7 p.m. Pies will be judged on crust, filling, texture, taste and overall appearance.

"This event is family-friendly and spans genders," said Jenni Dobson with the Loveland Museum/Gallery.

When: 3:30 p.m. historical presentation on cherry industry in Loveland; 4:30 p.m. pie can be dropped off for the "Art of the Tart" contest; 5-8 p.m. single slices of pie and ice cream available for purchase.

Where: Loveland Museum/Gallery, 503 N. Lincoln Ave.

Info: For details, call the museum at 970-962-2410.

Online: View a timeline with photos in the online version of the story at reporterherald.com. Search "cherry pie."